


Never Satisfied

by Snow_Princess_2016



Category: Titanic (1997)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-20
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-03-08 08:36:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3202712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow_Princess_2016/pseuds/Snow_Princess_2016
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Cal goes to sleep & dreams of every bad thing that will occur with him, Rose, Ruth & Lovejoy, on Titanic, he works so hard to try to right the wrongs he has made & will make with Rose but tragedy & heartbreak still finds him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1.

Cal awakened early from his sleep in his cabin. He awakened in a cold, heavy sweat. He looked all around him with horror. He couldn't believe the five hour dream he just had, it was so realistic, no horrific, so tragic. As he slug himself over the side of the bed and sat on the edge, he closed his eyes and could still hear the screaming in his ears, the feeling of Rose's pain, her sadness, the depth of his rage and anger, the fear that was locked into Lovejoy's eyes as he saw death coming at him within seconds before Titanic split into. Yes, on the second morning of Titanic's voyage, Cal had saw – everything. He saw his controlling behavior towards Rose, firsthand through Rose's eyes, he saw Rose's betrayal with Jack, he saw Bruce Ismay and Thomas Andrews and Captain EJ Smith, arguing somewhat, about speeding the ship faster, despite the fact that there could have been dangers from doing so. Cal saw his anger and rage when he discovered Rose was cheating on him with Jack, him shooting at Jack and Rose, him sending Lovejoy after them, Lovejoy getting beaten up by Jack, Lovejoy dying on the ship, by falling into the middle of the 'split in half' ship, Jack and Rose making it into the water and Jack dying, Rose making it onto Carpathia and declaring for Cal to never see her again, and then he saw his life – his entire life after the Titanic sinking – and his suicidal death in 1929. Yes, Cal saw it all and it all left a tragic memory in his mind.

As Cal sat at the breakfast table, on the deck of his cabin, with Rose sitting across from him and Ruth sitting on his left side and Lovejoy sitting on his right side, neither Rose, Ruth or Lovejoy had any clue as to why Cal had invited all of them together at the table for breakfast. It was something Cal had never done before.

"So, what was it that you wanted us all gathered here for, Mr. Hockley?" Lovejoy asked.

Cal looked at Lovejoy with a slight agitated frown and then he glanced at Rose. He could see the discomfort written all over her face. His dream was a reality in all sorts, he was beginning to see.

"I—I had a dream last night." Cal said in a low tone. "It was a very horrific dream. A dream where I was abusing Rose in every way on Titanic."

Instantly Rose's eyes shot up and stared at Cal. She couldn't believe he was making such an admission. He was admitting that he was abusive, that was something he had never done before.

"A dream where she ran off with some—young poor man named Jack Dawson and then I became very upset about it—enraged in fact and I tried to kill this Jack Dawson and Rose—"

"Cal, you did NOT have a dream like that." Rose snapped.

Cal looked at her with upset eyes for a brief moment.

"I did SO." Cal snapped with an eyebrow raised.

Cal sighed as he sat up more erect in his chair and nodded briefly. He looked over at Ruth and Lovejoy, both of whom were looking at him as if he were nuts.

"I'll start at the beginning with the telling of it." Cal said in a low voice.

~An Hour Later~

"And so with that, with me killing myself, that was the end of the dream." Cal said, as he swallowed hard and looked at Rose, Ruth and then Lovejoy, uncomfortably.

Ruth looked down at her dress as her eyes widened with shock.

"My GOODNESS," Ruth said in a low tone. "What a horrific dream, it sounds more like a nightmare than a dream."

Rose stared at the table sitting in front of her, almost in a daze. She couldn't believe what she had just heard from Cal. What if there was a man who could save her, the way Cal described? What if there was a man who could save her, who's name was Jack Dawson? And what if Rose found him before he found her and if she did, what if she were able to save him from dying the way Cal described in his dream? All these thoughts were rummaging through Rose's head, but were quickly relinquished as Lovejoy began speaking, his voice pulled her right out of her mental thinking daze.

"So, so Mr. Hockley," Lovejoy said, as he stared down at the table, blinking and frowning heavily, "You're saying you had a dream—where this Jack Dawson, not only beats me to a bloody pulp but then I die here on Titanic—by falling into the middle of the split into ship?"

Cal stared at Lovejoy and nodded with a strong, careless look.

"Yes, Lovejoy, that's exactly what I'm saying." Cal said strongly. "It was so—surreal too, to watch you being electrocuted by the wires of the ship, you had to have been shocked to death close to fifty times, with blood spewing from your mouth as you were being repeatedly shocked and—"

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Hockley, I suddenly feel nauseated." Lovejoy said as he quickly stood up and quickly dashed off the deck and out of Cal's cabin, Lovejoy's face pale and filled with shock and horror at Cal's description.

Rose almost laughed aloud at seeing Lovejoy's reaction to Cal's description of his death, it was the first and only REAL emotion and reaction that Rose had ever seen from the manservant of Cal's.

Cal stared at Rose endlessly as she elegantly sipped her coffee. Cal loved her, he knew she thought he didn't, but he knew he did. He just loved her all wrong, from the dream he had, he knew that now. As Lovejoy came back and sat down at the table, Rose looked up at him briefly.

"Are you alright, Mr. Lovejoy?" Rose asked, pretending to care, well she did, but then she didn't at the same time.

Lovejoy nodded briefly and shook his head and sighed.

"I will be," Lovejoy said almost weakly. "Once I get Mr. Hockley's horrific dream out of my mind." Lovejoy added in a low tone.

Rose scoffed and smiled as she sipped more of her coffee.

"Rose, I'm sorry." Cal said lightly, while staring at her with seriousness.

Rose looked up at him, with a blank expression.

"What?" Rose said.

"I'm sorry Rose," Cal repeated. "I'm—SO sorry for—for every moment that I controlled you, abused you, made you feel scared, frightened. I'm sorry Rose."

Ruth stared at Cal as if he were doing something most hideous. She then contrived a laugh.

"Oh, Mr. Hockley, you did nothing of the sort." Ruth said with a smile.

"I DID do everything of the sort." Cal snapped as he briefly glanced at Ruth. "That—that dream helped me to see that. For the first time ever, I saw things through—YOUR eyes, Rose and it was—horrendous. I was a MONSTER. I'm sorry."

Rose and Lovejoy stared at Cal with complete disbelief. They couldn't believe this was the man who just the day before said that he felt like taking Rose's head and snapping it until it popped off. Now, now he singing a different tune, it seemed.

Rose looked down briefly and then looked back up at Cal, speechless at first, as to how to respond to him. So, she simply nodded.

"Rose, I want you to be honest with me, alright?" Cal said as he sat up even more in his chair, as if he were trying to brace himself for what he was about to say to her next. "Do you want to get married to me?"

Ruth gasped and looked at Cal with horror.

"Well of course she does!" Ruth said with a nervous smile.

Cal sighed almost angrily and rolled his eyes at Ruth, and Ruth looked at Rose with warning eyes.

"Of COURSE you want to marry him, DON'T YOU, Rose?" Ruth said in a sharp tone.

"NO!" Cal yelled angrily as he stared at Ruth.

Cal's loud yell made both Ruth and Rose jump a bit.

"Ruth, I do NOT want an answer from YOU," Cal snapped. "I want an answer from ROSE. She doesn't need you to speak for her, she's a big girl."

Rose stared at Cal with disbelief. Was he actually defending her? Something surely must have happened in the middle of the night for Cal to doing such things that Rose had never seen from him before.

Rose nodded at Cal.

"No Cal, I—I don't want to get married to you."

Immediately Ruth gasped loudly, and Cal stared at Rose as if he had just heard the most horrific news ever, Lovejoy seemed to be tuning out everything and everyone, and was sipping coffee and reading the newspaper on the table. In Lovejoy's mind, Rose, Ruth and Cal were quite boring to be listening to anyway.

"Not right now anyway." Rose said as she looked down at her dress, nervously.

Despite being across the table from Cal, she could hear a slight sigh of relief from him.

"Cal, I'm just not ready to get married." Rose said as she looked up at him. "I want—I want to see the world, do things, explore, not be settled down into marriage right now."

"Well that's just ridiculous!" Ruth said loudly with a angry, brief smile. "You NEED to be married, Rose, to—"

"Ruth, PLEASE!" Cal snapped angrily with a sigh. "This conversation is truly between Rose and I, we don't need any interference."

"Well then why did you invite us both here, Mr. Hockley?" Lovejoy said as he continued reading the paper and sipping his coffee.

Rose almost had to laugh at that remark, for some reason, she found Lovejoy comical today, that was odd because the man was never comical—ever. He was just one tall, robotic manservant, no smiles, half the time, no jokes—nothing. Today was a treat for her almost.

Cal looked at Lovejoy with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, because—LOVEJOY," Cal snapped, "I wanted to inform you and Ruth of the dream that I had, that included you BOTH. That a good enough answer for you?"

Lovejoy looked at Cal briefly with a careless look and shrugged before going back to looking at his newspaper and turning to the next page. Cal scoffed and shook his head.

"Well then its settled," Cal said with a nod. "The wedding is off."

Ruth gasped loudly and looked at Cal with shock.

"WHAT!" Ruth yelled.

Rose herself stared at Cal with shock, she had no idea what the hell he was doing or what ulterior motive was behind whatever he was doing.

Cal sighed and nodded.

"If Rose doesn't want to get married right now, we won't," Cal said. " But I—I just—I want her to give me another chance. Rose, I'm asking you to please not leave me for this—Jack Dawson character—if and or when he comes along."

Rose looked down at her dress again and scoffed.

"Rose, I—I promise." Cal said. "I promise from this day forth, I won't control you, hit you, abuse you in any way, I will be a perfect gentleman to you, I—I swear, just please—please don't leave me Rose. I—I love you. I need you. I promise. Just give me another chance."

Rose looked up at him and stared at him for quite some time before responding to him, she was trying her very best to evaluate him, both on the inside as well as the out. She couldn't say that she didn't love him, because she did, but she wasn't IN love with him any longer, not after all the abuse and the controlling behavior he had sent her through, both before they boarded Titanic and after. He was handsome and he was charming.

"Alright," she told herself, "one more chance, one more chance with Cal to see if he'll get it right, besides, you know he won't. He never does, he always promises that he will, but doesn't and then when he doesn't, you can be free to go off and find whoever this Jack Dawson gentleman is, on Titanic, and find out if he's just as Cal's dream described him to be."

Rose nodded with a complacent look at Cal.

"Alright Cal, one more chance." Rose said lightly. "I'll give you that."

Cal sighed and looked down with a brief smile before looking back up at her.

"But no more controlling behavior, no more hitting me, no more abuse, Cal or I swear, I WILL find this Jack Dawson character and I will go be with him." Rose said sternly. "Especially if he's as heroic as you say he was in your dream."

Ruth quickly gasped loudly and quickly got up and stormed off of the deck, while Rose looked on with a smirk. She was glad her mother was so upset with what was occurring between Cal and her. Maybe now Ruth would feel some of the upset and stress that she herself put on Rose. Cal looked as if he could care less that Ruth left the deck.

"No please, do NOT go find him, Ms. Rose." Lovejoy said as he looked over at Rose with seriousness. "I'm absolutely in NO mood to go fist fighting some young lad all around the first class dining room of this ship."

"Mr. Hockley doesn't pay me anywhere NEAR enough for me to do something like that." Lovejoy said in a low tone that only Rose could hear.

Rose laughed.

"Alright, where's the real Spicer Lovejoy and what have you done with him?" Rose asked in a low voice with a brief smile.

Lovejoy scoffed and slightly rolled his eyes with a brief, faint smirk as he went back to reading his newspaper.

Cal rolled his eyes at Lovejoy and nodded at Rose.

"Alright Rose, I promise, I won't do any of those things anymore." Cal said strongly. "I'll do anything just to keep you."

"Well now that things are on a equal balance between you and Ms. Rose, does that mean I can stop following her all around the ship, as if I'm her chaperon and she's some child?" Lovejoy asked Cal. "I mean if you're going to stop controlling her, then I don't need to follow her everywhere and I can do—other things with my time."

Rose looked at Lovejoy with a surprised smirk and tried her best to keep in her laughter. Cal looked at Lovejoy with warning eyes.

"And exactly what would you DO with your free time, Lovejoy?" Cal asked coldly.

Lovejoy looked at Rose and then back at Cal and shrugged with a sigh.

"I'd like to play chess with some of the lads down in second class and then there's polo," Lovejoy said as he looked down at the table, looking with deep thought. "Oh! And maybe—just maybe I'd like to do a little shopping when Titanic stops in Cherbourg, France and Queenstown and then—"

Lovejoy stopped when he saw the careless look on Cal's face, Lovejoy looked over at Rose, who looked very amused by Lovejoy's response. Lovejoy shrugged carelessly.

"Well, anyway, plenty of things, is what I'm saying, Mr. Hockley." Lovejoy said as he took a sip of his coffee.

Rose nodded with a smile she was trying her best to hide.

"I think it's a great idea." Rose said strongly. "If you're to trust me and not be possessive or controlling anymore than its no need for Mr. Lovejoy to follow me everywhere any longer."

"Here, here, SO WELL said." Lovejoy said in a low voice, while continuously reading the newspaper.

Rose couldn't hold in her laughter at that response and giggled slightly, while Cal looked at Lovejoy with an angry frown. Lovejoy was getting on Cal's last nerve at this point.

"ALRIGHT, Lovejoy." Cal warned in a stern tone. "I—I guess if I am to truly trust you, then I'd have to keep Lovejoy from following you around everywhere and-I will. As I said I'll do anything—ANYTHING to keep you from leaving me, Rose."

Rose nodded with a smile.

"FINALLY." Lovejoy said with a sigh, in almost a whisper, although Rose heard him and smirked with amusement.

Rose looked down and frowned slightly with nervousness. She had one other thing she wished from Cal. It involved going to a certain area on the ship, an area she had came upon, while walking around the ship the day before. She looked up at Cal and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Um, Cal, there is one other thing." Rose said with slight nervousness in her voice.

Cal nodded hesitantly, not knowing what else Rose could possibly want from him, when he had agreed to every one of her terms so far.

"There's this party that they have down in third class." Rose began. "I've seen it briefly yesterday evening and it seems like a lot of fun. Cal, let's go to this party, tonight."

Cal's eyes widened with disgust.

"Thi—third class?" Cal said with a disgusted tone. "But—but sweet pea, they're—they're so dirty down there."

"They are NOT." Lovejoy said in a low whisper with a sigh, with a slight giggle from Rose.

Cal looked at Lovejoy with coldness.

"Who ASKED you Lovejoy!" Cal snapped.

Rose sighed as she stared at Cal.

"Cal, PLEASE." Rose pleaded. "We never do anything—fun, anything spontaneous and everything else on this ship seems so—boring. It be a lot of fun. Please and—and even Lovejoy can come, if you'd feel uneasy with just us going."

Lovejoy looked up at Rose instantly at hearing his name in the conversation.

"Um, what? I'd come where?" Lovejoy said with a slightly surprised look.

"Yes, you could come with us tonight to the third class party. You just said they aren't dirty, Lovejoy, so why not come with us?" Rose asked. "It's a lot of fun, it really is, drinking, music, food, fun."

Lovejoy looked down briefly and shook his head a bit. He thought for a good moment before responding to Rose.

"Well, I—alright, I'd come, if Mr. Hockley says I can." Lovejoy said with a sigh of hesitance.

Rose nodded with a smile and looked back at Cal.

"See Cal, even Lovejoy would come, so PLEASE." Rose pleaded.

She then looked down with a sad, look, hoping to make Cal feel guilty.

"You said, you didn't want to lose me, Cal." Rose said in a sad voice.

Cal stared at Rose with a frown of upset. He didn't want to be around third class vagabonds, he hated them, loathed them, they were dirty, they were beyond dirty, they were NOTHING to him, but he didn't want to lose Rose, he loved her, he would do anything for her not to leave him and fall into the arms of some young man named Jack Dawson. He looked down, sighed and rolled his eyes at the floor and nodded.

"Alright," Cal said in a low voice with frustration. "If Lovejoy comes with us, we can go."

Rose laughed happily and clapped briefly.

"Oh great! Great!" Rose exclaimed happily. "We can go tonight, this is going to be such fun!"

"Yes, yippee." Lovejoy said, under his breath, unenthusiastically, as he read the back last page of the newspaper.

Rose laughed briefly and Cal's heart melted at seeing such happiness in Rose's face and eyes. However he had no idea that, that happiness would be short lived—at least with him anyway, because he would soon find out that no matter what he did to make Rose happy—it would never be enough for the young, redhead beauty, no matter what, tragedy and heartbreak would still find him and crush him indefinitely…..


	2. Chapter 2

Rose, Cal and Lovejoy walked down into the third class area of Titanic, and their ears were immediately swarmed with the sounds of LOUD cheering, LOUD Irish celtic jig music and laughter, and talking. The sounds were so loud that it was hard to even hear yourself speak. Cal looked around at the crowded bar like atmosphere with a mixture of shock and disgust. There were some men and women, and even some boys and girls dancing on a dance floor, not too far from the entrance, there were booths at certain areas where people were sitting down drinking, and playing arm wrestling games and playing poker. Rose looked all around with pure excitement and joy, this looked like the type of excitement that she had longed for, but had never gotten a chance to be apart of, because of her overbearing mother. Lovejoy looked all around at the area with slight curiosity and intrigue. It reminded him of the many pubs he had visited back in his homeland of Manchester, England.

"Oh Cal, isn't this place exciting!" Rose said with a full smile.

Cal frowned as he scanned the area with his eyes.

"It looks more like a dirty haven for third class vandals." Cal said with disgust.

Rose scoffed and grabbed Cal and Lovejoy's arm and pulled them down further into the area. Cal sighed with frustration. He'd rather have been with the other gentlemanly comrades, sharing Brandy's and cigars in the smoking room, rather than down in the lower decks with people whom he considered to be nothing more than savages, dirty, filthy savages. However, as time went on, his attitude would change. Rose lead Cal and Lovejoy over to a booth in the corner of the room and ordered three beers for them and when they arrived to the table, Cal stared down into his beer as if it were dirt in a glass.

"What—what is this?" Cal asked with a disgusted frown.

"It's a BEER, Mr. Hockley." Lovejoy replied with a scoff and a shake of his head, and a laugh from Rose.

"Honestly, everything has to be SPELLED out for him." Lovejoy whispered to Rose and she laughed.

"Take a sip, Cal." Rose said with a smile.

Cal looked up at Rose with a "do I really have to?" look and then looked away and sighed.

"Alright, alright, for YOU, Rose."

Cal slowly took sips of the beer, with Rose smiling with amusement. However, the more he tasted of the beer, the better it tasted to him, and soon he was practically guzzling it down, until he finished it all completely. As he sat the mug back on the table, he saw Rose and Lovejoy staring at him, almost with amused eyes.

"What?" Cal asked.

Rose shrugged and then laughed.

"Nothing, its just that for someone who said they don't like third class passengers, you sure drink like them." Rose said with a smirk.

Cal rolled his eyes at her and briefly smirked with a scoff.

"Well, it tasted—more pleasant than I thought." Cal said in a low voice. "Almost as good as how its served in first class."

"Yes, well, I'm surprised you didn't try to lick the glass for remaining remnants of the alcoholic contents." Lovejoy said with a slight giggle from Rose.

Cal stared at Lovejoy with coldness.

"Oh SHUT up, Lovejoy." Cal snapped coldly.

At that moment, the band started playing 'Gaelic Storm' and Rose looked behind her and saw several men and women dancing to the jig, on the makeshift dance floor. Rose gasped and looked at Cal with an excited smile.

"Oh come on Cal, let's get up and try this dance!" Rose exclaimed as she got up and rushed over to Cal and grabbed him by the arm.

As Rose pulled him up to his feet, he frowned and sighed.

"Uh, no Rose, I—I don't dance," Cal said with agitation, "certainly not to—this."

"Oh come on Cal, please!" Rose said as she kept looking back at the people dancing on the dance floor and then back at Cal. "That looks like fun! For me, it would make me happy!"

Cal sighed with a frown.

"Well, if WE go up there, who—who will watch Lovejoy?" Cal asked, hoping that would be a good enough excuse for not going up to dance.

Lovejoy looked at Cal with a frown and a raised eyebrow.

"WATCH me?" Lovejoy asked. "Sir, I don't need a chaperon, I'm perfectly fine here by myself, so make up another excuse, because that one is ABSOLUTELY ridiculous—even for you."

Rose laughed and grabbed Cal's other arm, while Cal looked at Lovejoy with coldness.

"THANK YOU for helping me, Lovejoy, REALLY." Cal snapped as he was being pulled away by Rose.

Lovejoy waved carelessly at Cal and nodded.

"Sure, anytime, Mr. Hockley, whatever—go away already." Lovejoy said with a shake of his head as he took a sip of his beer.

As Cal and Rose walked up onto the dance floor, Rose began watching the other females dance, while Cal looked like he was lost in space, as he stood staring at the other dancers as well. Within seconds, Rose began dancing the Irish steps to the jig and she was doing so perfectly. Cal looked at her with a surprised smirk and raised an eyebrow as he stared at her dancing. He had no idea she knew such—dance moves. Rose looked at him and laughed.

"What, Cal? You know how to watch and not DANCE?" Rose teased, between heavy breaths, while continuously dancing.

Cal smirked and looked away and nodded. He loved challenges, and it was obvious Rose was challenging him.

"No, I DON'T dance to music like this, Rose." Cal said sternly, in his snobbish tone of voice.

Rose laughed.

"Of course you don't!" Rose yelled over the music, while still dancing. "You're a TERRIBLE one!"

Cal looked down and laughed briefly. He knew Rose was trying to test him on to actually start dancing, he knew that she knew very well that he knew how to dance. He looked all around him to make sure no one who was of importance had found him or Rose or Lovejoy down in the area and was looking at him and then Cal sighed and quickly began dancing the steps he saw Rose was doing and to Rose's amazement, he was doing them almost as well as she was. Within minutes, Cal realized he was having just as much fun as Rose was, dancing all around the floor.

"See, isn't this fun!" Rose yelled over the loud music, while still dancing.

Cal laughed as he continued dancing and nodded.

"I must admit, it is!" Cal yelled over the loud music while still dancing himself.

Immediately, Rose took Cal by the arm and began swinging him around while dancing, and he began swinging her all around, while others stood all around and watched, cheered, laughed and clapped for them. Cal and Rose were dancing, twirling each other around and laughing happily until the music stopped.

As the music stopped, Cal and Rose were laughing heartily.

"Oh my God, that was so much fun, the most fun I've had ever in my life!" Rose said between laughter.

Cal nodded and laughed heartily as he took her hand and lead her off the dance floor.

"It—it was, it really was." Cal said between laughter. "And that dancing—Rose, that was so much fun!"

Rose nodded with a smile as she turned and stepped in front of him.

"I TOLD you," Rose said, smirking, "this is much more fun than being in that boring smoking room, isn't it?"

Cal looked up at the ceiling briefly with a smirk, as if thinking how to answer and Rose laughed and grabbed his arm and led him away.

"Oh, just come on, let's see how Lovejoy made out at the booth, while we were away." Rose said as she began to walk away with Cal in hand.

As Cal and Rose walked back over to their booth where Lovejoy was, they saw it was crowded with people, people cheering, laughing, drinking. Rose frowned slightly frowned.

"Well this booth sure seems to have drawn a crowd." Rose said in a low tone.

As they pushed through the crowd, to get to the seat of the booth, they saw Lovejoy sitting across from a young, blond haired male in his early twenties, with bright, shimmery, blue eyes and fairly great looks. His name was Jack Dawson. Rose stared at Jack with slight awestruck attraction, but as Cal took hold of her hand and held it warmly, it took her vision off of Jack and onto him. Jack and Lovejoy were having a serious drinking shots contest, to see who could drink the most shots. As Rose and Cal walked closer to the seats of the booth, they saw Lovejoy downing a full shot of what looked to Cal, to be Brandy as those standing around the booth cheered loudly. Rose and Cal both looked at Lovejoy in surprise and then Rose laughed.

"Ok! Ok, so he's good!" Jack yelled with a smile. "But he's not better than me! I'm still a shot down from his shots, ok!"

Everyone at and around the booth laughed loudly and some cheered loudly and Lovejoy scoffed and smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, so ya are, son." Lovejoy said in a slightly slurred voice with a laugh. "But I'm not walking away until I have you beat!"

Everyone around the booth cheered, clapped and laughed loudly.

Cal scoffed and shook his head with a slight frown.

"Lovejoy, what are you doing?" Cal asked with a slight frown.

Lovejoy looked at Cal with a brief smirk.

"Oh HELLO Cal! HELLO Rose!" Lovejoy said drunkenly. "Sit down and enjoy the fun!"

As everyone around the booth started cheering and laughing, Rose looked at Cal and laughed.

"Cal, I think he's had one too many." Rose said with a laugh.

"I know, we should get him out of here before he makes a complete fool of himself." Cal said, as he leaned down to help Lovejoy up. "Come on, let's go."

"Wait, where not done here yet!" Jack said as he stood up quickly with a brief smile.

Lovejoy yanked his arm away from Cal roughly.

"I know, Cal! What gives!" Lovejoy asked, drunkenly with a laugh from Jack. "I was just about to beat the pants off of this Jack Dawson, young man!"

Jack scoffed and laughed, as others around the booth laughed as well.

"Ha! You WISH!" Jack said with a laugh.

"No, look Mr.—what's your name?" Cal asked coldly of Jack.

Jack nodded and faintly smiled at Cal.

"I'm Jack Dawson. Hi." Jack said as he extended a hand to Cal.

Cal and Rose looked at Jack with shock. Cal knew it was THE Jack from his dream. Cal looked down and his face instantly became flushed. Jack didn't look quite like the Jack in his dream, but nonetheless, Cal knew that, that was the man.

"What do you know Cal!" Lovejoy said drunkenly between laughter. "It's the Jack from your dreams!"

Lovejoy laughed loudly as did others around the booth and Jack looked at Lovejoy and then at Cal with a scoff and a confused laugh.

"What?" Jack said with a smile.

Cal shook his head with a shocked look, while Rose stared at Jack with an instant 'struck by beauty' type of way. Cal quickly grabbed Rose's arm and quickly lead her away.

"Um, um , come on Rose, I—I suddenly need air." Cal said as he lead Rose away.

Rose looked at Cal with confusion and then looked back at Lovejoy and Jack and the booth crowded with people.

"Wait, what about Lovejoy?" Rose asked.

"He's a grown man, he knows his way out of here." Cal said as he quickly lead Rose and himself out of the third class area.

As Cal and Rose began walking back up to the deck of the ship, Cal felt his heart sink and his mind swirl with a million thoughts. He wondered had Rose took sight of him long enough for her to have 'love at first sight' feelings for him? Had she stood there long enough for her to become curious about Jack to want to talk to him? Cal had no idea, and not knowing was making him really worried, really fast.


	3. Chapter 3

As Cal and Rose walked out onto the empty deck of the ship, in the midst of the night air, Rose noticed Cal was suspiciously silent. She had known that type of silence from him before, but it was always when Cal was enraged with her about something, and she hoped that wasn't the case. As Rose and Cal were walking across the deck, Rose stepped in front of Cal and took hold of his hands and looked at him worriedly.

"Cal, are you alright?" Rose asked.

Cal looked at her briefly and then looked down and blinked repeatedly with a slight frown.

"Please don't leave me, Rose." Cal said in almost a whisper, while still staring down at the deck.

Rose frowned with confusion as she stared at him.

"What? Leave you, why would you think that?" Rose asked. "We seemed to be having fun down in third class—for the FIRST time ever."

Cal nodded briefly and then looked up at her with saddened eyes.

"Yes but—but then you saw Jack Dawson," Cal said in a low tone, "the man from my dream, the man who's supposed to—take you away from me and who is supposed to make you fall in love with him, and I—I know what I did before to you—the abusiveness, the controlling behavior, the wedding, the—the proposal, but please Rose, I'm trying to change. I—I even came down with you to this third class party, when I didn't really want to, but I did it for you, because I love you Rose, so please—please don't leave me. Give me a chance to prove I can be better to you and for you and then if I can't, I give you my permission to leave me, and I won't stop you, I promise."

Rose looked at Cal with sympathy. That was the first time Cal had ever pleaded to her the way he was. She gently caressed the side of his face.

"I promise I won't leave." Rose said in a low voice. " I promise, as long as you keep being the way you were tonight, I won't leave."

Cal looked down and nodded and eventually broke into a brief laugh.

"It was fun tonight in third class." Cal said with a smirk and a laugh from Rose.

"I know, and you dancing, it was so amazing." Rose said with a laugh.

Cal laughed.

"I know, I didn't even know I knew those dance steps," Cal said with a laugh, "I guess I can catch on pretty quickly, huh?"

Rose laughed and nodded.

"I'll say so," Rose said with a laugh. "You were doing more footwork than I've seen you do in my six months of knowing you."

"Yeah and I didn't crush your feet while doing those here and there moves not once." Cal said with a laugh that Rose shared.

Cal hugged her closely in his arms and kissed her on the forehead and smiled.

"However I thought when we were twirling and spinning around, I was going to throw up." Cal said with a laugh from Rose.

"I saw two or three Cal's when we finally came to a stop with the spinning and dancing." Rose said with a laugh from Cal.

Rose looked up at Cal slowly and gently but passionately kissed him briefly on the lips. Cal looked at her with a intrigued look.

"You kissed me." Cal said in a low, slightly surprised voice.

Rose smiled briefly and nodded.

"Yes, I did" Rose said with a brief smile. "And as long as you keep up with the way you were tonight, you can expect more from where that kiss came from."

Rose gently and briefly kissed him again on the lips before walking away, stopping to look back at him with a flirtatious smirk. Cal looked at Rose with a faint smile, his face blushed. It was as if he were a young man back in school, getting kissed by his crush for the first time ever, Cal's heart melted instantly. He knew now more than ever that he couldn't screw this up with Rose. He couldn't go back to being the way he was, not when it seemed that he was finally getting somewhere with Rose in their relationship. No, he had to be exactly what Rose wanted him to be, he had to do exactly what Rose wanted him to do, go where she wanted, say what she wanted—no matter if he approved, liked or disliked it. He had to work hard to please Rose in every way, because he feared, he greatly feared that if he didn't, his nightmarish dream would come true, and he would lose Rose forever, no matter how much he fought against it, and fought to try to keep her….and that was something he just simply couldn't have happen…however, what he didn't realize was that, no matter what he did, it would still not be enough for Rose, for in the days to come, Rose's attention, her feelings and attractions would begin to wander….and destruction for both she and Cal would be soon to come…..


	4. Chapter 4

Cal awakened the next morning, and walked out onto his deck, to see Rose sitting at a table filled with breakfast foods and drinks. Cal scoffed and smiled briefly at her as he sat down in a chair next to her.

"Ruth, you're here—early this morning." Cal said with a brief laugh.

Ruth stared at Cal coldly.

"Mr. Hockley, do you love my daughter?" Ruth asked.

Cal looked at Ruth with a surprised grin and sighed with a simple nod.

"Well, of course Ruth," Cal answered with assurance, "how can you even ask such a thing?"

Ruth shook her head slightly and frowned.

"Well then, why won't you marry her, Mr. Hockley?" Ruth asked. "I don't understand."

Cal looked down and scoffed and smiled.

"Ruth, she doesn't WANT to get married right now." Cal replied strongly. "No matter if—if I want her to marry me or not, and to force her will only push her away. We'll get married when the time is right."

"No!" Ruth yelled.

Ruth sighed and briefly closed her eyes with a frown. Cal stared at her with confusion. He had no idea why she was pushing this 'marriage' thing, he had no idea that the real reason was so that all of the debts she had accumulated from her husband could be paid off.

"Mr. Hockley, Rose is a young girl who simply doesn't know what she wants." Ruth said lightly. "She doesn't realize that—"

"Ruth, stop it, alright?" Cal said in a slightly angry tone now.

Neither Cal nor Ruth had realized that at this moment, Rose was listening a few feet away, from within Cal's room.

"Ruth, Rose indeed DOES know what she wants," Cal said strongly. "I think she made it very clear what she wanted, yesterday morning. Why you're pushing her to marry when she clearly isn't ready to is beyond me, but I'm beginning to see what she meant when she said you were controlling."

Ruth gasped loudly and looked at Cal with shock. Cal looked at Ruth warmly and gently and briefly held her hand.

"Ruth, Rose and I will get married, when she says she's ready." Cal said lightly. "I don't want to push her like I did before and end up losing her and I—I ask of you to please not do the same. Don't push her into doing something. If—if Rose ever left me, and I found out it was because of you pressuring her to marry me, well—well I'd simply go into a murderous rampage on you, Ruth, and we don't want that, now do we?"

Ruth stared at Cal with slight fear on her face, she nodded once with nervousness as she sat back in her chair. Cal smiled his proud, arrogant smile and sat back and took a sip of his coffee as he laughed briefly. At that moment, Rose walked out onto the deck and sat down in a chair across from Cal. She smiled at Cal sweetly. She looked at him with a new found respect she never had for him before, it was probably because she had never, ever heard Cal defend her to Ruth before and the fact that he did this morning, just made him even more attractive to her.

"Good morning sweet pea." Cal said with a bright smile. "How was your sleep?"

Rose nodded with a smile as she poured herself coffee.

"Quiet pleasant, dear, thanks for asking." Rose said cheerfully. "Good morning mother."

Ruth looked at Cal, who was giving her a warning look and then Ruth looked at Rose and faked a brief smile.

"Good morning, Rose." Ruth said in a low voice.

At that moment, Lovejoy walked out and sat at the table, next to Rose and cal and sighed with a frown, as he held the side of his head gently. Cal looked at him with a cold and confused look.

"Lovejoy, WHAT are you doing here?" Cal asked coldly. "I didn't request for you to be with us this morning."

"I know, Mr. Hockley, Rose did however." Lovejoy said with a sigh. "And I have no idea why, I'm really not feeling too well to go out of my room this morning."

Rose laughed.

"I'm sure, with the way you were drinking last night." Rose said with a laugh. "You have a hangover?"

Lovejoy nodded slightly.

"Yes and a very bad one." Lovejoy said in a low tone. "I took something for it, so hopefully, the pain will subside. I did so much drinking that I don't even remember much of anything from last night."

Rose gently patted him on the hand and smiled briefly.

"Well coffee should do a lot to help as well, Lovejoy." Rose said with another brief smile.

Cal stared at Lovejoy as he poured himself coffee. This was something Cal certainly didn't approve of, having LOVEJOY have breakfast with them? The only thing Cal wanted Lovejoy to do was to guard, to assist—not to dine and sit with them as if he were their best friends—because to Cal, Lovejoy wasn't. However, as he looked at Rose's face, he knew he couldn't object, for if he did, it would only start a beginning argument between him and Rose and with them seeing Jack Dawson the previous night, who knows, it might be just the type of argument to send Rose right into Jack's arms.

"So, Trudy told me that last night when you came to your room, before you went to bed, you checked your clothes for lice." Rose said as she looked up at Cal with a smirk. "She said you were afraid the dirtiness of third class had rubbed off on your clothes—including the lice they carried. Cal, honestly, I wish you'd stop thinking of the third class as dirty. They aren't."

"YES they are, dear," Ruth said scolding. "Have you seen the way they dress? Its despicable."

Rose scoffed and rolled her eyes at Ruth.

"Oh please mother, you think everything is despicable." Rose said with a laugh.

Cal looked down and blinked repeatedly and then looked up at Rose and shrugged.

"Well, I—I mean they DO carry lice, Rose." Cal said. "And I mean they are the LOWER class, and we are FIRST class, I have to keep some sort of guarding mentality regarding being around them, especially when they look so—poor."

Cal and Ruth snickered and Rose stared at Cal with complete coldness.

"Cal, they are STILL human beings." Rose said coldly. "Honestly, its hard to imagine that you're human when you talk about those who are less fortunate than you are, like they may be animals. It completely disgusts me, Cal."

Cal stared at Rose observantly, he could tell she was getting angry, he always knew when she was getting angry by the way she would roll her eyes at everything in front of her, by the way she would slightly slam down things in front of her, yes he knew she was getting angry and immediately guilt struck him. He sighed and looked away from her with his face filled with guilt. He looked back at her with a hint of sorrow.

"I'm sorry, Rose." Cal said lightly. "I—I'll try harder to not think of those who are—less fortunate than I am, as animals. I promise. I—I can't change overnight, it takes time, but I will. I'm sorry, I'm sorry about last night with Trudy and the clothes and all—I'm sorry."

Rose looked at him briefly with coldness and nodded before picking up a newspaper in front of her, opening it, and reading it, blocking Cal from seeing her face. Cal looked at Lovejoy who was sipping coffee, but who glanced at him (Cal) briefly, and then Cal looked at Ruth, who was trying her best not to stare at him. Cal looked down at the table and frowned slightly.

"Great!" He thought to himself. "You've already disgusted her, the first day that you said you'd change towards her, that's great, Caledon, now you already have a strike against yourself, in no time, she'll be RUNNING to that Jack Dawson."

Cal continued to stare down at the table, guilt written all over his face, as well as hints of despondence. Rose peeked her head out from her newspaper and saw this. She put the newspaper down and reached across the table and gently took hold of Cal's hand and briefly smiled.

"Its fine, Cal, really." Rose assured. "I understand, honestly."

Cal looked up at her with seriousness.

"I'm really sorry, Rose, I'll—I'll try harder to—to like—them." Cal said, finding it hard to even spew the word like out of his mouth when talking about the third class.

Rose nodded and smiled as she sat back in her chair and took a sip of her coffee.

"So, this morning, what are we to do?" Rose asked with a smile.

"Um, well this morning, I have to meet with Mr. Guggenheim, Mr. Astor, Mr. Ismay and Mr. Andrews." Cal said. "In the smoking room, we're going to just discuss politics—the mill that my father and I own, business things, then after that, I'm free for the whole day, so maybe we can—"

"The smoking room?" Rose asked in an irritated voice. "The smoking room? With the other men? THIS morning? This SATURDAY morning?"

Cal looked at her, puzzled and then laughed briefly.

"Well, well yes, Rose, why?" Cal asked with a brief smile.

Rose frowned and shook her head.

"Oh Cal, I was hoping we could spend the entire day together." Rose said. "The morning and the evening. I mean you always spend time in the smoking room, why can't we spend time together?"

Cal frowned at Rose with confusion.

"I always spend time in the smoking—Rose, we've only put on this ship a day, so how can it be that I ALWAYS spend time in the smoking room with the other gentlemen? Besides, this is important, Mr. Ismay, told me yesterday that he had some new business ideas for how to make the mill run more—successfully and so I'd certainly love to hear his ideas."

Lovejoy suddenly sat up and listened more carefully, he wanted to hear out this particular situation was going to play out between Rose and Cal, as did Ruth.

Rose scoffed and rolled her eyes hard at Cal.

"FINE Cal," Rose snapped. "Go smoke and have Brandy's with them and forget about your fiancée and spending time with her and making her happy."

Cal stared at Rose with even more confusion.

"Fiancée—Rose, wait I thought you didn't want to BE my fiancée, yet, remember?" Cal said with a frown. "I thought you said you just wanted us to be a couple but not an engaged—"

"Oh you know what I mean Cal!" Rose yelled angrily. "Whatever our title is together, just GO! Go be with your snobbish boring, male friends and drink and smoke the day away!"

Ruth scoffed and stared at Rose with upset.

"Rose, honestly, don't you think you're being a bit unfair?" Ruth asked. "He spent ALL evening and night with you yesterday, when he was supposed to be at the Gentlemen of Fortune meeting with Mr. Andrews, down in the dining room, can't he have just this morning to himself? And then the rest of the day with you? Must he be around you ALL the time?"

Rose looked at Ruth with coldness.

"Mother, this is between Cal and I, NOT you, so PLEASE be quiet!" Rose snapped.

Ruth gasped in shock at Rose and sat back in her seat with a stunned look. Cal glanced over at Ruth with a slight upset frown and then looked at Rose with guilty eyes.

"Alright, I—I'll spend the morning with you, Rose." Cal said in a low, despondent voice.

Rose smiled brightly.

"Oh will you, Cal?" Rose said sweetly. "How charming of you, dear, thank you!"

Cal faked a brief smile and sat back in his chair and took a sip of his coffee as a look of frustration came on his face. He didn't WANT to spend the morning with her. He wanted to be at the meeting with the other men, the mill was important to him, it was his job, but once again, he had to put off his wants, his happiness—for Rose, he knew Ismay had told him after this morning, he would have no other time to sit down and talk with Cal about the business ideas he had for Cal's mill, so this morning's meeting was very important to Cal—but he was putting it off—for Rose; and it was making him, despondent, sad—sadness was a feeling he hadn't felt since he was a child, when his father used to constantly beat him. As Cal sat there, looking despondent and frustrated, Lovejoy was picking up on it. Rose got up and kissed Cal on the cheek with a smile.

"I'll go get ready for us to spend the morning together," Rose said sweetly. "You can come to my room in an hour and then we can go have fun for the day."

Rose laughed and dashed off the deck and out of Cal's room, as Cal stared down at the table with a hint of sadness, despondence and frustration. They were looks that both Lovejoy and Ruth could see written all over Cal's face. Cal knew he had told Rose he'd make her happy and do whatever she wanted and go where she wanted and such, but he had no idea that he'd have to not do ANYTHING he wanted, or that he couldn't ever again go ANYWHERE he wanted, just to make her happy. What about his wants? What about what he liked? Cal guessed that, all that would have to take a back seat when being with Rose, and if he didn't want to lose her forever, to Jack Dawson, Cal realized he'd just have to learn to put all his likes and dislikes, feelings and wants on the back burner and do nothing but please Rose—however he would soon realize that, that would STILL not be enough for the red head beauty that was Rose Dewitt Bukater, nothing Caledon Hockley did, would EVER be enough for her…..


	5. Chapter 5

Cal and Rose were walking around Queenstown, as the Titanic had stopped there as planned. They both had taken in some shopping, some sightseeing while there. Cal had bought Rose anything and everything that she saw and wanted, in Queenstown, no matter how expensive, both of them were having a pleasant time, however Cal still couldn't get out of his mind, how he had to miss his meeting with Mr. Ismay, just to be with Rose that morning, however, Rose's constant chatter, didn't keep his mind on it for too long. They were sitting down at an outside diner, enjoying ice cream, their last visit in Queenstown, before they went back on Titanic.

"Truly thank you Cal for buying me all of these clothes, the jewelry and things today," Rose said with a smile. "I knew there was a reason why I love you."

Cal laughed briefly.

"You don't have to thank me, Rose." Cal said with a smirk. "I'd buy you the moon if I could."

Rose laughed and blushed lightly.

"So, when we leave off Titanic, what will we be doing?" Rose asked with a smile. "Hmm, maybe we can travel to California. I've always wanted to go, Cal!"

Cal smirked as he took a lick of his ice cream.

"California, that's a far away place from New York, sweet pea, honestly." Cal said. "However, I'd love for us to go, spend three weeks in the sunniest place in America."

Rose laughed and bit her lower lip and looked at Cal with nervousness.

"Well, I was hoping, Cal, I'd like for us to move there." Rose said with slight hesitance.

Cal looked at her with an eyebrow raised, his smile slowly fading.

"LIVE there?" Cal echoed.

Rose nodded with a brightened smile.

"Yes, see Cal, I—I want to be become an actress," Rose began, "and the best place to start that is in California."

Cal looked down and frowned slightly.

"You can't become an actress in New York?" Cal asked. "On Broadway?"

Rose's smile slowly faded and she blinked heavily.

"Yes, but your mill is Philadelphia." Rose said, seriously. "How can I be on Broadway and you be working in Philadelphia? Its not like you're going to let me stay in New York by myself and then come home to Philadelphia on the weekends or something."

Cal shrugged and looked at her with perplexity.

"Why wouldn't I?" Cal asked strongly.

Rose looked at him with surprise.

"What?" Rose asked with a confused frown.

"Well, why wouldn't I, Rose?" Cal asked. "I mean, as I told you yesterday morning, I want to be a man who trusts you now, I don't want to be the man who tells you not to go here or there and then you leave me. So, if you want to go to New York to live out your dream as an actress, I trust you, Rose. Why not go off on your own?"

Rose looked down and frowned deeply.

"Yes, but I wanted you to be there WITH me." Rose said in a low tone.

Cal stared at her and saw the sadness in her face. He had to do something to make her sadness, joy. He sighed and leaned forward closer to her, after finishing off his ice cream.

"How about, I take two months off and then I can spend those two months with you in New York," Cal said with a smirk, "helping you, supporting you with your dream of becoming a beautiful actress."

Rose looked up at Cal with a cold look, that wasn't what she wanted.

"Yes, but I want to LIVE in New York, Cal." Rose said. "I want to live where my career is, can't you—put someone in charge of your mill business."

Cal sat back slowly in his seat, and sighed with frustration. Him spending two months with her in New York wasn't even good enough for her. He was quiet quite a while, which made Rose slightly nervous. She knew that quietness well, it was the quietness that lead into anger and rage. She was instantly worried that he had slipped back into the 'old Cal.'

"Are you alright, Cal?" Rose asked, seriously.

Cal looked at her and nodded slightly. He knew to say no to her, meant him possibly losing her, and that was something he didn't want, not because he couldn't get any other lady, because with his good looks and great, suave, boyish charm, he could, but he didn't want any other lady, he only wanted Rose and he didn't want to lose her.

"Alright, um, say—say we move to New York." Cal said, "we can but every once in a while I'd have to come back to Philadelphia to check on the mill, but—but if what you want is for us to move to New York, then we can, I'll hire someone to be in charge, while I'm away from the mill."

Rose raised an eyebrow at him and looked at him sternly.

"Well that's great Cal, it really is," Rose said, "but why can't you just let your father run the mill and you stay in New York with me and not return back to Philadelphia?"

Cal looked at her as if she were nuts.

"Rose, are—are you serious?" Cal asked. "I—I can't do that, you know that. Working at the mill is my job, without that, what am I to do? Besides, never return to Philadelphia? My father and my family is there. Are you saying I can never see them again?"

Rose scoffed and lightly rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh Cal, none of your family members like me—not even your father, so why would you want them around you for anyway?" Rose asked.

"Um, because they're my family, Rose." Cal said strongly. "Honestly, I think you're being a bit unreasonable."

Rose looked at him with surprise.

"Oh really? I am?" Rose asked almost coldly. "I'd think you do this for the woman you love. Why not leave the mill, why not join me on Broadway, you too could become an actor."

Cal looked away from her and laughed briefly.

"An actor, really sweet pea," Cal said with a brief smirk, "I'm not actor material, I don't know a THING about acting, I've worked at the mill since I was eighteen and once father—expires, the mill will be all mine's and then I can sell it and take the money from it and get into the business I really want to be in—real estate and then we can go live wherever and we don't have to be tied down to staying in Philadelphia. All I ask is for you to give me some time, Rose, alright? Father has been sick for a while now, so it won't be long before he expires—a month or so, maybe three tops."

Rose sighed angrily and sat back in her chair, finishing off her ice cream and stared down at the table with an angry expression. This didn't please Rose at all, she wanted what SHE wanted, nothing less.

"Fine Cal, you make the decisions around here," Rose said coldly. "Stay in Philadelphia at the mill while I'm in New York, with any luck, we'll grow apart and I'll find someone new and we won't be together anymore."

Cal frowned at her and shook his head quickly. He was trying his best not to retort back to his old self, where if Rose were acting the way she was, he'd reach across the table, violently pull her to him and coldly tell her that what HE said went and that there would be no further discussion about it, but Cal knew he couldn't do that. He knew that would scare her tremendously and she'd run off and away from him and he'd lose her. Cal sighed, he once again knew what he had to do and say.

"Rose, I SAID, I'd spend two months with you in New York," Cal said calmly, "but—fine, how about six months, I'll take a six months vacation with you in New York—or—as I said, I'll live with you in New but I'd have to take every now and then to travel back to Philadelphia, to the mill, it wouldn't be often though, just every now and then."

Rose looked up at him with anger and coldness.

"I don't WANT that, Cal." Rose said coldly. "I want you to FORGET the mill completely—for—for one YEAR and spend the year with me—in New York."

Cal's eyes widened with shock.

"ONE YEAR?" Cal said shockingly. "Rose, that's—that—I—I couldn't do that, all the work would be left on whomever I hire PLUS my workers at the mill and that would be such a hardship on them—not that I particularly care about them—but if they have hardships while on the job, it will bring heavy struggles on me and my father's mill and what would my father think about me taking off for a whole year and bringing struggles and problems to the mill because of my year's vacation? I can't do that for a whole year."

Rose looked at Cal with sadness and disgust, she shrugged carelessly.

"Fine Cal, see this is just what I meant." Rose said in a cold, low tone. "You care more about that mill than about my happiness and about me. I—I don't see how we can be like this, I—I just don't."

Cal stared at her with a brief, angry frown and then briefly closed his eyes and sighed. Damn it, he hated when she did this, he hated when she made him feel guilty, but she was, and it only started the previous morning, when he told her he'd do anything not to lose her. And he would do anything not to lose her—even if it involved causing havoc and problems at the very mill that he and his father cherished. Cal looked at her with an almost sad look.

"Alright, a year it is, Rose." Cal said in a low tone. "I'll take a year off to be with you in New York, alright? Happy? What's a year off to be with the woman I love, so that I won't lose her?"

Rose gasped and smiled happily.

"Oh thank you Cal! This is going to be so fascinating!" Rose said as she got up quickly and ran over to him and hugged him tightly.

Cal smiled briefly and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm glad you're happy, sweet pea." Cal said with a smile. "That's all I want, I love you."

Rose smiled warmly at him.

"I love you too Cal, honestly." Rose said warmly.

"Oh come on, we're going to be late, for boarding back on Titanic." Rose said as she got up and dashed away from the table.

Cal stared down at the table with an overwhelmed look. How could he tell his father that he'd be taking a year away from the mill? His father would be furious with him, more so what would he do for a whole year in New York, while Rose was off pursuing her dream? This year off was something Cal didn't want to do, he wanted to do what HE loved, for the time being—working at the mill, why couldn't he? Because if he did, he'd lose Rose. Rose was that important to him, that he'd do anything—ANYTHING not to lose her, including sacrificing his own happiness, which was what he was doing and it was killing him inside – slowly.


End file.
